Search results

The British Library Lending Division came into being in 1973 when the National Central Library was integrated with the stock and services of the National Lending Library for Science and Technology at Boston Spa. The original buildings have been added to by specially designed accommodation. The loan/photocopy service, based on the use of a pre‐paid three‐part request form, has been supplemented by computer requesting, links through database operators such as DIALOG, and the telephone for urgent requests. Road/rail transport links with many parts of the country have been introduced and now account for over half of all items dispatched. A rapid growth in demand in the first seven years was followed by a decline and then a levelling off in 1982/83. The proportion of demand accounted for by International Services increased from 9% in 1973/74 to 21% in 1982/83. The Division has developed close connections with IFLA and the European Communities. As a result of a British Library Ad hoc Working Party on Union Catalogues, which reported in 1982, the Division's stock records and union catalogues are being automated. The British Union Catalogue of Periodicals ceased to be issued and its bibliographic function was replaced by Serials in the British Library, issued by the Bibliographic Services Division from 1981. Certain libraries with large or important stocks were designated to serve as backup collections; from 1979 more requests went to backups than were provided with locations. The British Library Reference Division has not only supplied photocopies as a backup but begun to lend items held in the Department of Oriental Manuscripts and Printed Books and the Science Reference Library. Close relations have been maintained with users and with relevant organizations. The acquisitions policy established in 1973 has changed little, though music scores were added in 1974, and rationalization of resources with Reference Division has resulted in a small drop in the number of serials acquired. The British National Book Centre activities of the NCL were merged with the donations activities of the NLLST to form the Gift and Exchange Section. Until 1982 the service was free but economies on staff and resources led to a restricted and priced service. Courses in the use of the scientific literature were extended to other subjects but had to be terminated as an economy measure in 1980. For similar reasons the ad hoc translating service was discontinued at the end of 1981. The cover‐to‐cover translations of (mainly Russian) scientific and technical journals sponsored by the NLLST have continued as part of the Division's extensive publication programme, which now recovers all its costs. Cost recovery increased from a quarter to a half of all expenditure over the period. The Division has kept up with relevant developments in automation and electronic publishing.

Demand fell in 1981–82 for the second year running, although contrary to 1980–81 foreign demand increased. A total of 2,686,000 requests were received and 87% were satisfied from stock. Speed of service was improved. The price of the UK service was increased to maintain cost recovery and protect the acquisition budget. Total traffic carried by the road/rail transport schemes increased. Requests from abroad now account for 20% of total demand. A Working Party on Union Catalogues has recommended that a catalogue of Lending Division monographs and a union list of foreign language monographs should be produced on COM, and that the former should be made available on line. The British Library Serials Titles file has been expanded further, and the Lending Division's holdings of pre‐1801 books have been recorded. A cut in real terms in the budget meant that selective measures were needed to trim expenditure on acquisitions, and reductions had to be made in the Gift and Exchange service. The extension to the Urquhart Building was officially opened, and plans for converting two existing buildings for future storage were developed. Surveys were carried out to assess user satisfaction, content and accuracy of serial requests, and demand for duplicate monographs. Developments in the in‐house serials system and the receipt of requests by computer links continued. Demand for retrospective searches on MEDLINE fell by 17%, and the CISDC service had to be terminated. The publications programme continued successfully.

This paper attempts to evaluate the literature of the field of history through a multi‐decade reference analysis of the American Historical Review. Reference analysis, a subsection of the larger field of bibliometrics, is a method of determining the characteristics of a field or subject by careful examination of the literature of that area. This study will analyze references from one issue of the AHR from the years 1950, 1970, 1990, and 2002 in five areas: total citations, age of the citations, language of the citations, format of the citations (e.g. monograph, journal, etc.), and the number of authors per citation. Hopefully, this analysis will help to define the patterns (if any) that have characterized the field of history through time.

The acquisitions policies of the Division are based on a consideration of a number of criteria—academic level, demand, availability and speed of supply from elsewhere, and country of publication. Only ‘worthwhile’ literature is collected, and apart from the serials area where a comprehensive collection is maintained, low demand categories of literature are collected only if availability elsewhere is non‐existent, restricted or slow. Among its 51,500 current serials are conventional journals, directories, yearbooks, report series, a few technical newspapers, some standards series and many official publications (particularly British). Including secondhand material, over 100,000 books are acquired each year. Most of these are in English but many foreign language items are brought in response to demand. Other categories of literature acquired are dissertations, research reports, research series in microform and music. The preferred method of obtaining serials is through a subscription agency. Although British books are selected in house, the majority of books are obtained by means of approval programmes. In addition, the Division has many exchange arrangements.

Most citation analyses are based on references taken from two or three source journals. There are good theoretical reasons for believing that these may not be representative of all references. In the social science citation analyses carried out as part of the DISISS programme, references were collected from 140 journals, including forty‐seven drawn at random from a comprehensive list, and also from 148 monographs. Analyses of references drawn from high ranking and randomly selected journals showed differences in date distribution, forms of material cited and rank order of journals cited. Analyses of references drawn from journals and monographs showed differences, some of them large, in date distributions, forms of material cited, subject self‐citation and citations beyond the social sciences, and countries of publication cited. These differences may be peculiar to the social sciences, but any citation analyses that are based on only a limited number and type of sources without specific justification must be regarded with suspicion.

For a number of reasons, I have decided to begin this issue of VINE with an editorial. In the first place, as many of you will already know, at the end of June I gave up my post as Information Officer for Library Automation in order to become an Assistant Librarian in the Applied Sciences Library of University College, Cardiff. Since the Information Officer for Library Automation is ex officio editor of VINE, this means that I will also be handing over responsibility for this publication to my successor, when he or she is appointed. Unfortunately, there will be a hiatus before my successor can take over, so that for a short while, I will continue to edit VINE. However, because of my commitments in Cardiff, I will be unable to provide news of recent developments in U.K. library automation as I formerly did. Thus, in this issue of VINE and the next, I will concentrate on descriptions of automated library systems which I visited whilst on a study tour of North America in April and May of this year. Once my successor takes over, VINE will revert to being a source of up‐to‐date information about automation in specifically U.K. libraries.

Drawing on data from 399 Swedish doctoral theses, this chapter explores the epistemological foundations of higher education research. Using an analytical framework whose elements are the institutional organization of researchers and knowledge, the object of study, and the object of knowledge, we found that higher education research is mainly a concern for the older universities and for research subjects within the educational sciences and, secondarily, the social sciences. The prime objects of study are topics related to teaching, followed by issues of system policy, institutional management, and knowledge work. Studies of academic work and quality are almost non-existent, and comparative studies and international perspectives are rare. Regarding the object of knowledge, doctoral students’ choices of research approaches, theories, and methods point to a diversified analytical toolbox, although dominated by text-based analyses and qualitative methods, especially interviews and documentary studies, and a range of learning and institutional theories.

This report covers the first full year of operation of the British Library Lending Division. During the year, integration of the staff of the former NLLST and NCL has been completed, there has been an unprecedented increase in demand, arrangements with back‐up libraries came into full operation, and the International Federation of Library Associations established at Boston Spa an Office for International Lending. The Standing Conference of National and University Libraries made its first award for functional efficiency in new library buildings to Phase I of the new building, and outline planning permission was received from the local authority for an eight‐storey Phase III building. The translation service offered by the BLLD, and the seminars and courses arranged at Boston Spa, were put on a cost recovery basis from January 1975. Finally, the acquisition of music scores was expanded into a comprehensive programme, in order to give a parallel service for music scores to that given for serials and monographs.

The Lending Division handles over three‐quarters of all interlibrary loan requests from British libraries. Demand was 4% higher than in 1976/77 — a lower growth rate than hitherto. Overseas demand continued to grow faster (9% more requests than 7976/77) than British demand (3% more). The back‐up system, which was rationalised during the year, dealt with nearly as many requests (5%) as the locations service (5.5%), which showed an improved performance. The pilot transport schemes in London and the North West were completed, and plans were made for the extension of rail/road services over the whole country. Over £1,800,000 was spent on acquisitions, and the number of current serials acquired rose to 49,300. The Gift and Exchange Section became able to receive large quantities of material direct, rather than being notified on cards. Work started on a new building with 40 miles of shelving, due for completion in 1979. Increased funds were spent on conservation, for which a long‐term programme is being prepared. Other aspects covered are translating services, MEDLARS, courses and seminars, research and computer applications, publications, and publicity and visitors.

1976/77 saw a much smaller increase in demand from British libraries, but a very large increase in overseas demand. Pilot road/rail schemes for transporting interlibrary loans showed very promising results. Use of back‐up libraries increased substantially, while the number of locations given declined slightly. The number of current serials taken increased to 48,480. As the present buildings nearly reached the limits of their capacity, little used material began to be outhoused, and off‐site provision was made for the receipt of donations. The report also deals with translating services, MEDLARS, courses and seminars, research and computer applications, and publications.